Ruto: Unite Africa through a common digital market

President William Ruto and Burundi’s Evariste Ndayishimiye during the 24th Comesa Summit of Heads of State and Government at KICC in Nairobi, on October 9, 2025. [PCS]

President William Ruto is advocating for the adoption of a single digital market within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa), aimed at boosting the region’s global competitiveness.

As part of this vision, he is pushing for the integration of cross-border digital payment platforms, one of the key pillars he believes will revolutionise trade across member states.

As the newly appointed Chair of Comesa, Ruto, while addressing the 24th Comesa Summit of Heads of State and Government on Thursday, underscored the growing need for African economies to unite by pooling their capacities.

In line with the summit’s theme, he said there is need for the economic bloc to harness the necessary digital tools to improve trade, not only within itself, but also with the rest of the world.

He noted that intra-Africa trade stands at 14 per cent while the continent only contributes three per cent of global trade.

While emphasising on the role of technology in expanding trade, he noted that adoption of the digital superhighway across the continent would make the necessary positive difference on how business is conducted.

“The digital superhighway must not end in our capitals, it must reach every village, connect every farmer, empower every entrepreneur and link our land locked nations to the arteries of global trade,” said Ruto.

Ruto said it is time that the continent harmonises its digital policies and regulatory framework.

“Fragmentation in itself is a non-tariff barrier (NTB),” he said. “A single digital market for Comesa will require common standards for e-commerce, digital payment, data protection and cyber security.

Ruto said the reason why intra-Africa trade is low is because the continent has unlimited barriers.

“Let us accelerate the adoption of integrated electronic certificate of origin, single window systems and inter-operable cross border payment platforms to make our region the most efficient place for trade on our continent.”

He said for far too long, the continent has been a passive recipient and consumer of technology but time has come for Africa to become producers, innovators and exporters of digital solutions shaping the region’s economy.

“Comesa must therefore invest in digital infrastructure, data governance and human capacity building to ensure that our citizens are empowered to thrive in the digital economy,” said the President.

The summit held in Nairobi was themed "Leveraging digitalisation to deepen regional value chains for sustainable and inclusive growth."  Side events to the summit were the 18th Comesa Business Forum and exhibition and the Comesa-EU Horticulture Connect.

In the event, Ruto took over the chairmanship position of Comesa from Burundi’s Evariste Ndayishimiye who held the position for a year. This is the highest decision-making organ for the economic bloc.

Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa is the Vice Chair.